3-5-ETS1-2 lessons
Generate and compare several possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.
The Next Generation Science Standards code 3-5-ETS1-2 asks students to: “Generate and compare several possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.” These Fieldbook lessons teach it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up Grade 4
- Can you build a burglar alarm? 60–75 min
Teams design and build a homemade switch from a clothes peg or foil and cardboard that closes a circuit when a door or box lid opens, sounding a buzzer or lighting an LED. They test it, improve it and use evidence to argue their alarm is the most reliable.
Living with Water: Salt, Rice and the Mekong Grades 4–5
- How do salt farmers turn the sea into salt? 60 min, plus a 10-minute check the next day
Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams paint salt water on dark paper to find the salt hiding in sea water, then set out wide and narrow dishes in sun and shade to see what makes water leave fastest. They use the evidence to advise a salt farm in Khánh Hòa.
- How do rice terraces stop a mountain washing away? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods
Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams make model hillsides from soil in trays: a bare slope, a terraced slope and a slope with plant cover. They pour the same storm of rain on each, measure the muddy water that runs off, and use the evidence to advise a mountain village in northern Vietnam.
- How can a house stay dry when the Mekong floods? 60 min, or two 35-minute periods
Science and English together, for English learners at CEFR A2–B1. Teams design and build a model house on stilts or on a floating base, then test it as the teacher raises the water in a tub and makes waves. They use their results to advise a village in the Mekong Delta.
NGSS is used as written in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, so the code 3-5-ETS1-2 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
More NGSS standards for Grades 3–5
All standards we teach · Curriculum alignment by state and province
Three full lessons, free
Make a free account and download any three Fieldbook lessons as printable PDFs. No card needed.